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Friday, December 16, 2016

4th CMO set to hold Young Cultural Minority
Professionals’ Forum

By Regal C. Oribia

BUTUAN CITY, Dec. 16 (PIA) – The 4th CMO Battalion,
Philippine Army in partnership with the government line agencies (GLAs) will
conduct a two-day Young Cultural Minority Professionals’ Forum (YCMPF) this
coming December 21 to 22, 2016 at Division Advance Command Post, Barangay
Bancasi, this city.

The activity will be participated by the Officers
of the Caraga Mindanao Cultural Development Incorporated (CMCDI), an IP youth
organization which was organized by the unit and partner government agencies as
IP Youth Leaders and Communicators in Caraga region, students leaders and
Muslim young professionals.

“This forum is part of empowering and developing
the youth leadership potential and transforms them to become responsible
citizen and catalyst for peace and development,” said LTC Rey Pasco, 4th CMO
commanding officer. (PIA-Caraga)

DOLE Caraga taps LGUs to ensure success in ending
'ENDO'

BUTUAN CITY, Dec. 16 (PIA) - “We will end ENDO now”
is the tag line for the regionwide forum dubbed Exploring Local Government
Units’ (LGUs) Role In Ending “ENDO” (End-of-Contract) held recently in the
city.

A first in Caraga, the forum was graced by no less
than Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod of the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE). An overwhelming 180 participants from the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan/Panlungsod members, SB member-Committee on Labor, PESO managers,
DOLE personnel, Regional Coordinating Council and media partners were able to
attend. The interactions of the public servants from the different cities,
municipalities and provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del
Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Islands became a venue for sharing common
illegal contracting arrangements and practices; and manifesting commitments to
deliver tangible results in putting an end to “ENDO”.

Usec. Maglunsod shared the need to end the unfair
and abusive practices under labor contractualization and the highly
controversial end-of-contract or ‘ENDO’ scheme. He reported the series of
orientation and consultation meetings conducted in different parts of the
country reiterating to the Filipino people the drive in ending ENDO. He is enthusiastic
in bringing back the trust and confidence of the Filipino people in the
government and one way to do this is to make sure that Filipino workers are
given importance.

The directives of DOLE Secretary Silvestre H. Bello
III, shared by Usec. Maglunsod, were supported by an Orientation on Labor Laws
Relating to Contractualization. The PESO Institutionalization Act was also
discussed reiterating the need for its creation such as building a strong
market-oriented PESOs which can respond to training and labor market needs.

DOLE Caraga OIC-Regional Director Evelyn R. Ramos
presented the ENDO status and the way forward. As of November 24, 2016, there
are 2,693 regularized workers in Caraga Region. “The said figure is already a
positive development albeit a fraction of the total workers in Caraga. The
forum is one way forward and we can do more with LGUs strong support in the
policy directive of President Rodrigo Duterte,” said Ramos.

Ramos’ message encouraged and motivated the
participants to support the drive on ending “ENDO”.

The highlight of the forum was the expression of
support coming from the key officers of different LGUs in the region. Some of
these are the following: Board Member Virgilio Escasinas, Jr. of Agusan del
Norte, expressed his enthusiasm in ending ENDO.

Mayor Philip Pichay of Cantilan conveyed that he
will be supporting the drive of DOLE in ending ENDO as well as the PESO
Institutionalization and the drive to eradicate the provincial rate and making
the minimum wage the same across the board.

Butuan City Councilor John Gil Unay, Sr. mentioned
that they will create a resolution to institutionalize the PESO. He mentioned
also of OSSCO that was already operational, emphasizing that this is the right
time to “walk the talk”.

Atty. Arturo Charlos Egay, Jr., vice-governor of
Surigao del Norte expressed his willingness to support by requiring business
establishments to be compliant with labor laws in renewing business permit to
ensure that illegal contractualization will beavoided. PESO Institutionalization will be supported too but he is
seeing the budgetary requirement as a challenge.

SB Member Ronilo Bohoc of Buenavista, expressed his
support and as a matter of fact they had just conducted a meeting related to
ENDO and they will fully support the drive. They will create an ordinance to
have a meeting with the businessmen in Buenavista to ensure that they are DOLE
compliant. Candelario Viola, vice-mayor of Hinatuan, mentioned that the
government should interfere on the contract of the businesses to see to it that
all contracts are legal.

SB Member Gerardo Magluctao of Veruela, Agusan del
Sur was honest in mentioning that this drive is not timely for them as they
already submitted their budget preparation for 2017. However, Director Ramos
suggested that it can be included in the supplementary budget. Hon. Edelberto
Bastareche, SP member, Agusan del Sur reported that they already follow the
PESO Institutionalization. He pointed out the number one commitment stated that
“all” establishments should comply but he wanted to make exceptions for those
businesses with minimal employees. Director Ramos explained that the Agusan del
Norte proposes to exempt all establishments, however, the details can be ironed
out in the provisions of the resolution or ordinance.

The significant activity ended with the signing of
the commitment of support by the participants, facilitated by the field office
heads. The overwhelming support is indeed a boost to the workers in Caraga
region with the realization that DOLE is not alone in this journey. “Together
we can put an end to ENDO,” exclaimed director Ramos. (DOLE-13/PIA-Caraga)